The Difference Between Brothers
by Annie Kirsten
Summary: What if Ryan’s and Seth’s lives were exchanged? Geeky Ryan comes to live with the Cohens and bad boy Seth who is less than happy to get a brother. Plese read and review! COMPLETE
1. The Arrival

**The Difference Between Brothers – Part 1 – The Arrival**

Summary: What if Ryan's and Seth's lives were exchanged? Geeky Ryan comes to live with the Cohens and bad boy Seth? Very AU

AN: This is my first published/finished fanfic and I hope to get some reviews. Of course I prefer good ones, but I would also be happy if people had ideas on how to improve the story or my writing. Thanks in advance!

Disclaimer: I own nada to do with The OC. Unfortunatly!

Also, all mistakes are mine because I don't have a beta. If anyone would be willing to help me out with that I would be really grateful! So, please feel free to contact me!

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"Hey Ry, are you ready? Those People will be here shortly." It was Theresa, Ryan Atwood's best (and only) friend, who was yelling.

"Yeah, I'll be there in a minute."

He looked around his room one last time. Well, it wasn't exactly his room since he had shared it with 3 other guys for most of his life. He had grown up in this group home close to Chino, California and he couldn't even remember calling any other place home. He had been only 4 years old when his dad was arrested for armed robbery and 2 months later he was taken away from his mom who was an alcoholic and couldn't take care of him or his older brother Trey. Trey was 8 at the time and ended up in a different group home. Ryan had visited him a couple of times in the beginning, but it had been a long time since the last visit.

Trey had never been an altar boy, but when he hit puberty he became really bad and got in a lot of trouble with the police. At 17 he served half a year in juvie for stealing a car. And after he turned 18 and left the group home Ryan hadn't seen or heard anything from him. It was the same with his parents. They had never bothered to visit him once and he wasn't sure if he had actually agreed to see them if they had tried.

Today was his last day at the group home and he could hardly believe it. Usually people only adopted little kids, but this couple, these Cohens, they had specifically asked for a teenage boy. Ryan didn't know much about them, only that they lived in Newport Beach and had a son his age. Steve? Sean? He had forgotten the name again, but he didn't care right now. He would meet him soon enough and he was sure that they would become good friends.

"Ry, c'mon. They're here!" Theresa seemed to be almost more excited than he was.

He took his small bag in one hand and his plastic horse in the other and then he was on his way to his new home.

"So Ryan, are you hungry? Do you want to stop somewhere to get something to eat? What do you like?" Kirsten kept asking him different questions and most of the time he didn't really know what to answer. Theresa would have laughed out loud if she had seen him like this. He wasn't exactly a shy kid. He was usually really active and hyper. But he was kinda nervous around these people. Sandy and Kirsten seemed to be very nice, but it felt weird to go with them. Leave the place where he had spent most of his life to live with them.

"No, thanks." Ryan answered shyly. "I'm not hungry."

"Okay. We were planning on having a special family dinner tonight anyways." Sandy said. "What do you want then? Thai? Mexican? Italian?"

"You can cook all that?" Ryan asked looking at Kirsten first surprised and then confused when Sandy started laughing.

"Sandy!" Kirsten scowled.

"I'm sorry, honey." Sandy replied apollogetically. "It's really sad, Ryan, but Kirsten and cooking? that's like Steve Urkel in a nuclear power plant."

Ryan giggled.

"Thanks Sandy" Kirsten said but was smiling too when she continued, "It's not that bad, Ryan, don't listen to him! We just didn't want to scare you on your first night."

It was definatly weird how these strangers made him feel comfortable. Soon they reached the gate of the Cohen's private community and looking at the houses Ryan was in awe. He had hardly ever been out of the group home and if only in the neighborhoud, so he had never seen houses, no mansions, this big.

"And this is our house. Your new home!" Kirsten said putting an arm around Ryan's shoulder.

Ryan didn't even know what to answer. He stood there with his mouth open. It was one of the few times in his life that he was actually speechless. He had known before, that Newport was different than Chino, but he could have never imagined anything like this.

"Wow! Wait till I tell Theresa about this. She's gonna flip!"

"Come on, kid. Let's get you settled in your new room. It's right across the hall from Seth's. We can show you around the house. And then maybe you can play a little playstation or something. Seth should be home from school any minute, too."

"He's still in school? Doesn't he have summer vacation?" Ryan asked.

"Harbor's education program is a little different from the rest of the state. They start vacation next week." Sandy explained. "That reminds me. We have to go there Monday morning to get you enrolled for the next year. You have to do that a couple of months in advance. They're really picky about things like that."

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Ryan turned quickly around at the sound of the voice.

"Uhm, I'm...uh...I just...Your parents said it was okay."

"You gotta be kidding me." Seth said and pointing to the playstation continued. "This is mine! You touch it again, you're dead!"

Ryan dropped the controller at once, got up to his feet and held out his hand to Seth.

"I'm Ryan by the way." He introduced himself. He waited for Seth to say something in return, but he didn't get an answer so he continued. "And you must be Seth. I'm happy to finally meet you. I'm sure we'll become good friends maybe even brothers. I always wanted to have a brother. Well, I had a brother, but he sort of..."

"Whoa, just...whoa!" Seth was completely overwhelmed by Ryan's flood of words. "I'm not your brother! And I'm never going to be your brother, 'coz you'll be gone soon enough!"

'That didn't exactly go as planned!' Ryan thought when Seth turned around and left.

"Mom, I'm going out!" Seth yelled and shut the front door before Kirsten could answer anything.

"Kirsten, can I go out with Seth?" Ryan asked. He didn't want to leave things in the air like this. He wanted to be friends with Seth and decided to follow him.

"Yeah, of course. But be home by six, please." She replied.

"So, have you met your new brother yet?" Luke teased. "How is he?"

"Shut up, Luke!" Seth gave his best friend a punch on the shoulder. "When I saw him he was playing playstation. With a plastic horse!"

Luke, Nordlund and Brad who were at the diner with Seth couldn't stop themselves but burst out in laughter.

"Dude, I'm not even kidding. I only spent like five minutes with him and he's already driving me nuts!"

"C'mon man, he can't be that bad." Nordlund said.

"Oh my god!" Seth put his hands to his face and slumped down in his chair trying to hide from Ryan who had just arrived outside the diner.

"What?" Luke asked bewildered.

"That's him! I can't believe he followed me!"

Luke, Nordlund and Brad turned in unison and looked out the window to find a scrawny and geeky kid stumbling and almost falling when getting off his skateboard.

"Hey, I've got an idea." Luke turned back to Seth showing an evil smirk.

"If we do anything to him and he tells my parents I'm done." Seth reminded Luke.

"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing. Just invite him over here. Let me do all the talking and just agree with me."

Ryan entered the diner running into two girls who were just leaving.

"Hey Ry, come here. Sit with us." Seth said wearily not sure of what to think about Luke's idea.

"Yeah, cool." Ryan answered excited. "So, are these your friends? Hi, I'm Ryan. I'm his new brother."

Seth shot a glance at Ryan and opened his mouth to protest, but Luke beat him to an answer.

"Hey. I'm Luke. And these are Nordlund and Brad."

"Hey. It's nice to meet you."

"So Ryan, we were just talking and I was wondering, do you have any plans for tomorrow night? Because after that stupid charity event where I'm sure we'll all have to go to, there's this really cool beach party we're invited to and well, I suppose you could come with us."

"Really? That would be totally awesome!"

"Luke, what the fuck are you doing?" Seth hissed angrily when he and Luke were standing infront of the men's restroom hidden from their friends. "Why did you invite him to Holly's party?"

"Seth, chill! I know what I'm doing." Luke said, apperently not willing to discuss the matter any further. "We'll talk about it later. I have a plan, okay?"

Seth wasn't sure what to think about Luke's plan, but decided that it was probably best to play along for a while.

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Okay, that was the first part. The next parts will be longer, I just thought this was good for an introduction. Tell me what you think. Should I continue?


	2. The Party

**The Difference Between Brothers – Part 2 – The Party**

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"Hey, good morning!" Ryan almost yelled entering the kitchen the next morning.

Seth was the only one up apparently. He was sitting at the kitchen counter, a bowl of soggy cereal infront of him which he had probably forgotten while reading the newspaper. Neither Sandy nor Kirsten had emerged from their bedroom yet and Seth didn't even want to think about what they might still be doing in bed at 9:30 on a Saturday morning.

Seth just groaned in reply and then watched over the top of his newspaper as Ryan sat down next to him, grabbed the box of Captain Crunch and began eating them dry out of the box. 'What an idiot! We do have bowls. And milk.' Seth thought while watching Ryan who seemed oblivious to his looks.

"Morning boys." Kirsten said cheerfully when she and Sandy finally showed up. They gave each other a look understanding what the other was thinking without using words. Seeing their boys sitting next to each other at the kitchen couter looked almost too good to be true. They were happy that their choice to take in Ryan seemed like a good one.

"What do you guys have planned for today?" Sandy asked.

Seth just shot a quick glance at Sandy before continuing to read a completely inept article in the paper. He wasn't even interested in the article, but pretending to read was the best way to avoid stupid questions or unwanted 'brothers'.

"I don't know. What do you guys usually do around her?" Ryan asked Seth excited.

But Seth didn't look up. Sandy who was used to this kind of behavior from his son answered in return, "Maybe you guys could go out on your catamaran, Seth. Your grandfather gave it to you a couple of years ago, but you never use it."

"There might be a reason for that." Seth mumbled.

"You have a boat?" Ryan asked with interest. He had always loved the ocean and was looking forward to living close to the beach. "I'd love to go out on it! Can we do that?"

"I'm sure Seth will be happy to go with you." Sandy said, oblivious to Seth glaring at him. "Right Seth?"

"Sure, dad." He said, but secretly thought 'Maybe if he fell in, I could get rid of him for good.'

After spending some hours on the ocean, to Seth's disappointment Ryan still hadn't managed to fall in, but was instead babbling about everything that came to his mind. Finally Seth couldn't stand it anymore and suggested they go and eat something. After lunch Sandy called Seth's cell phone to remind him about the charity event that night which Kirsten made them all go to and they went home to get changed.

As soon as Seth had spotted Luke at the event, he was gone to hang out with him and left Ryan with his parents. But it didn't take long for Ryan to find them again. They tried to stick to themselves, but Ryan was new, so every newpsie decided to introduce herself to him. Seth and Luke had little interest in everything and wished for it to be over soon.

Later that night Luke drove Seth and Ryan to Holly's party.

"So, when do you have to be back?" Luke asked when they were seated in the car.

Ryan opened his mouth to say midnight, which was the curfew the Cohen's had given them, but Seth was faster. "You should really know better than to ask a stupid question like that, Luke! They'll be asleep when we get home anyways, so no need to worry."

Sandy and Kirsten had seemed a little worried when Ryan had told them that he would be accompanying Seth to Holly's party. But they let them go without asking anymore questions. Ryan was surprised it had been that easy. At the group home he wasn't aloud to stay out later than nine on weekdays or ten at weekends, so this was all really new to him. Besides he didn't have enough friends to get invited to parties in the first place.

When they came to Holly's beach house the party was already in full swing. There were teenagers in bathingsuits everywhere. Almost every one was holding a cup of some liquid, which Ryan guessed was alcohol. The house looked really nice, huge for a beach house, a little bit dirty from empty plastic cups, chips and wrappers that had been deposited on the floor, tables or chairs, but still unbelievably fancy.

Luke led them out through the back door and onto the beach which was less crowded than the house. He than said he would be right back and they should start 'checkin' out some hotties'.

Seth had already started looking for Summer Roberts who he had had a crush on for a couple of years, but who never seemed to notice him. Sure she talked to him, because they were friends and his best friend Luke was almost dating (they had been flirting intensely and spending a lot of time together but weren't officially considered a couple) her best friend Marissa. But apart from that nothing had happened. Seth had had some relationships with other girls, but none ever lasted long because he could only think of her.

Then he spotted her on the porch. Flirting with Dave, a senior and the biggest jock in school. He was one of the most popular people in school. Seth was popular too – for a sophomore that was, but he knew he could never compete with Dave.

"Hey guys, I got you something to drink." Luke said as he handed Seth and Ryan each a plastic cup.

They both accepted it gratefully and took a big swig. But soon after that their faces turned into a frown and Ryan almost spit his drink out again.

"What is this?" He asked.

"Coke." Luke replied flatly.

"Coke and what?"

"Coke and vodka."

"Oh, uhm...I...I don't really drink." Ryan said in almost a whisper.

"Really?" Luke faked surprise at Ryan's comment. "Oh well, one drink won't take the edge off. You'll be fine."

Ryan wasn't sure what to think, but when he realised that both Seth and Luke were staring at him, he took another swig and another. Soon he was used to the taste of vodka and finished off his drink.

"I'm going to get another one." He anounced and went off towards the house as Seth and Luke watched him.

"Hey Luke, what is this?" Seth asked pointing to his drink.

"Coke." Came Luke's flat reply.

"Coke and what?"

"Coke and...Coke."

"What? Why did Ryan get vodka and I don't?" Seth asked pouting before it dawned to him. "That's part of your plan, isn't it?"

"Mmmhhmm."

"So what's your plan exactly?"

"Okay, listen..."

Seth listened intensely to Luke explaining about what he had planned.

Meanwhile Ryan was in the kitchen looking at the huge amount of alcohol on the counter infront of him. Unsure of what or how much to use he picked up different bottles to read the labels.

"Hey." He heard a female voice behind him say.

"Hey." He answered.

As he turned around he came face to face with the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She was tall and skinny and her short mini skirt emphasized her long legs. She had long brown hair falling in curls over her shoulders.

"Wanna fix me a drink?" She asked smiling smugly.

"A drink? Uh...yeah, sure. What do you want?"

"How about a screwdriver?"

"Um...a screwdriver...yes, okay." Ryan answered hesitant and totally confused, while thinking, 'What does she need a tool for now? Didn't she want a drink?'

The girl was watching him watching the bottles without lifting a finger.

"Why don't you start by taking the vodka and I tell you how much to put into a cup?" She finally suggested, when she was sure that he didn't have a clue about how to make a screwdriver.

"Yeah, good idea!" He agreed. "So...where's the vodka?"

"Why don't you use that bottle?" The girl asked smiling and pointed to a bottle right in front of Ryan. "The one with 'vodka' on the lable?"

Ryan blushed as he picked up the bottle.

"I knew that!" He said and the girl giggled.

"Good. And now orange juice." She said handing Ryan the container when he had filled about one third of the cup with vodka.

He added the juice and then handed her the drink. She took a small sip, testing it. Then a bigger one. Finally she put the cup down and said, "It's pretty good. You want me to fix you one now?"

Ryan agreed and she mixed him another Coke and vodka.

"So, who are you?" She asked after he had tasted his drink.

"Whoever you want me to be." He replied. He had heard people using that line in many movies before and he had always wanted to say it. She gave him a weird look, but didn't give up.

"How come I don't know you? You don't go to Harbor, do you?"

"Not yet. But I will next year. I just moved here. Yesterday actually."

"Really?" She asked. "And why are you at this party? Do you know anyone here?"

"Yeah. I'm living with the Cohen's. Maybe you know their son Seth?"

"Seth Cohen? Yeah, of course I know him. Who doesn't? I'm actually good friends with him and his best friend Luke. We hang out together a lot."

"I'm Marissa by the way."

"Ryan."

Time went by and Seth and Luke had been outside talking to Holly and a couple of different other girls for a while. They hadn't seen Ryan for at least an hour, when he was headed for the kitchen to get another drink. Surrounded by a group of half-naked, dancing girls a pretty drunk Luke was really enjoying himself. But Seth who wasn't allowed to drink, had nothing to take his mind off and started to worry about Ryan after a while.

He decided to go looking for him. It didn't take long until he saw him. Ryan was in the middle of the living room, dancing with a strangely familiar looking girl. They were very close to each other, groping different parts of each other's bodies.

As Seth came closer to the couple he finally recognized the girl: Marissa. His 'supposed to be brother' was making out with his best friend's 'almost girlfriend'. Seth knew immediatly that this could only mean trouble. He had to get Ryan away from Marissa before Luke found out, because he really didn't feel like explaining to his mother how Ryan got a black eye.

"Ryan? Ryan? What are you doing?" Seth asked.

"I'm jus' having fun." A heavily buzzed Ryan slurred.

"Come on, we're going home."

Seth grabbed Ryan's arm and pulled him away from Marissa, just to realize that Ryan was too drunk to stand on his own anymore, when he immediatly fell down.

"Don' touch me!" Ryan complained.

He pushed Seth's helping hand away and tried to get up on his own. He swayed, but finally managed to stand up holding onto the wall.

"Ryan, we have to get you home."

Luke who had heard the noise inside came up to Seth and Ryan, luckily Marissa had disappeared a second before. Ryan continued arguing, but finally Seth and Luke managed to get him to agree to going home. They each held onto one of his arms and guided him to Luke's car.

"Do you need help with him?" Luke asked when they arrived at the Cohen's house and got Ryan out of the car.

"No, I think we'll manage." Seth told his friend and then put his arm around Ryan's waist to better support his weight.

"Okay. So, I'll see ya around." Seth nodded and Luke drove off.

"Hey? A little help here?" Seth asked with a strained voice. Ryan was heavily leaning on his shoulder unable to hold his bodyweight on his own. So Seth had to do his best to get him to the house.

"Seth? Ryan? Is that you?" It was Kirsten's voice that could be heard through the house as Seth and Ryan came in through the front door.

"Uh-oh."

As soon as Kirsten saw the boys and the way Seth was mostly carrying Ryan now, her mother's insticts took over and she rushed to his side.

"Seth? What happened? Is he alright?"

She lifted up his chin to take a look at his face, and upon seeing his eyes she got a pretty good idea about what had happed at the party.

"Are you drunk?" She asked incredulously and got the answer immediatly when Ryan put on a stupid, almost proud grin.

"Seth! I can't believe you! How could you get him drunk?"

"What? Mom? How is this supposed to be my fault?"

Kirsten glanced at him as if saying 'I know you.' which would be enough of a reason for her.

"Okay, I know my record doesn't exactly speak for me, but I'm trying. You told me that Ryan is different and that I should be careful with him, so I didn't drink anything tonight. And it wasn't my idea to get him drunk!" Kirsten searched his eyes for any sign of a lie but didn't seem to find one. And if you really thought about it, what he had said wasn't even a lie. All of it had been Luke's idea although Ryan helped with the plan too – unwittingly.

"I didn't even know that he had been drinking this much until it was too late and then we got him home immediatly." Seth continued trying to convince his mother of his innocence, while they guided Ryan to his room and put him down on his bed. He was asleep as soon as he hit the covers.

"Go to bed Seth. We'll talk about this tomorrow."

Seth shuffled over to his own room and got changed for bed while Kirsten took of Ryan's shoes and tucked him in.

"Good night sweetie." She said and turned to leave.

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TBC

Please review!!!


	3. The Second Try

**The Difference Between Brothers – Part 3 – The Second Try**

BertnErnie: Thanks for your reviews! I'm trying to follow your advise. I hope you'll like where I take this.

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The next morning found Kirsten and Sandy arguing in their bedroom and Ryan listening to them from outside.

"Sandy, he was totally wasted! How can you protect him?" Kirsten complained, annoyed with Sandy's softie approach to the fact that their new son had come home drunk.

"I'm not protecting them! But you remember when we were young, don't you? They're kids, they go out to parties and they get drunk. It's not unusual. You know Seth does it all the time."

"Yes, and I'm not happy with it!" Kirsten sighed. "I...I guess I didn't realize, that it would be this complicated to have another kid living here. I thought he was different than Seth. That he was a good kid."

"He is a good kid." Sandy confirmed. "He's not perfect but who is?"

"I just didn't think it would be this hard."

"Kirsten, what do you want to do? Go back to the store and exchange him for a better model?" Sandy asked his wife.

They had thought they knew what would happen if they took in another boy. Unfortunatly their hope to calm Seth down was short lived. But it was only now that they realized they had gotten in way over their heads. Still Sandy was determined to accept that and make the best of it, while he wasn't so sure what Kirsten thought.

Ryan on the other side of the wall had heard Sandy's question clearly which was followed by a long pause on Kirsten's side. He closed his eyes and trotted back to his room. He had heard enough. He was sure Sandy and Kirsten would come to talk to him about returning to the group home soon. He should have known that this could never work out, sooner or later the Atwood luck was bound to strike again. He decided not to give Sandy and Kirsten any more trouble and started packing his bag, so when they came he would be ready and one of them could drive him back to the group home.

"Hey, whatcha doin'?" Seth asked standing in the doorway.

"Packing. Your parents weren't too happy about last night, so I'm leaving."

"Really?" That sounded almost too cheerful, so Seth quickly added "That sucks man."

Ryan nodded. "Maybe if I'm lucky the jocks at the group home will only pee in one of my shoes as a welcome back gift."

"I'm guessing you're not looking forward to going back." Seth said. "Let me try something."

With that he left Ryan standing in his room confused.

Seth could hardly believe, that his parents wanted to give Ryan back. Maybe Ryan had understood something wrong, because Seth thought his parents liked Ryan. From the first day they had met him in the group home until they finally brought him home they had done nothing but talk about him: 'Ryan did this.' and 'Ryan did that.' Ryan, Ryan, Ryan...always Ryan.

Okay he had screwed up, but how many times had Seth come home drunk or gotten into a fight, missed curfew or gotten a bad grade or even detention at school. It happened on a regular basis in the Cohen household.

* * *

Meanwhile Kirsten and Sandy continued their discussion while Seth eavesdropped this time. Kirsten leaned against Sandy and he hugged her tightly. She shook her head against his chest slightly and when they finally broke apart she whispered, "No."

It was quiet, but said with a determination that Sandy knew and liked about her. When she made up her mind there was no way to change it.

Sandy smiled at her, "There's a no-return policy now, you know that?"

Kirsten smiled back at him.

"We still need to do something about the drinking though. He needs to know that it's not acceptable." She said.

"For some reason I think Seth was involved in it, too."

"He took Ryan to the party, but that was it. He didn't drink anything."

"Exactly. Since when does Seth let an opportunity like this pass? I think he knows more than he's willing to admit."

"Are you accusing him of lying?" Kirsten asked. "That'll be really good for your relationship."

Seth snorted, "Ya think, mom?" while retreating to Ryan's room.

"C'mon. Let's go." Seth said.

"What? Where? To the group home?"

Grabbing Ryan's arm Seth dragged him out of the room and down the stairs, "No. Just out."

Seth had already opened the front door and literally pushed Ryan out. He turned around and yelled, "Mom? Dad? Ryan and I are going out for the day." Then he quickly left shutting the door loudly behind him, before his parents could object.

"Where are we going?" Ryan asked trying to keep up with Seth.

"D'you have your skateboard?" Seth asked in return completely ignoring Ryan's question.

"Yeah." Ryan answered slightly confused. "Seth, where are we going?"

"Luke's." Was all Seth told him while getting his bike out of the garage. Ryan had noticed that Seth was in a foul mood and decided to stop bothering him...

It lasted for all of two minutes!

"Why are we going to Luke's again?" Ryan asked when he couldn't stand the silence anymore.

Seth just shrugged his shoulders in response.

"Okay...uhm, don't you think your parents will be mad?"

Seth glared at him.

"I mean after last night." Ryan continued ignoring Seth's looks. "They probably want to drive me back to Chino right about now."

"Or maybe they want me to take the bus." He added as an afterthought. "I'm sure they don't want to go through the trouble of driving me. It's gonna be so much easier on them if I take the bus. Have you ever been on one of those? They're reall-"

"Will you please SHUT UP?!" Seth stopped Ryan's rambling.

"I wish I could. But it's like a compensation thing." Seth rolled his eyes while Ryan babbled on at an incredible speed. "With you saying nothing I kinda have to talk non-stop. So if you want me to stop talking then you have to start."

"Okay, okay. There actually is something I need to talk to you about." Seth told Ryan and stopped.

"Okay. Shoot."

"It's about last night. That girl."

"What girl? Oh. That girl. Yeah, now I remember her. She was cute..." Ryan trailed off thinking about her. "Marissa, right? Do you know her? 'Cause she said she knew you. You think you can fix me up with her?"

"No!" Seth yelled and punched Ryan on the shoulder. "You can't start anything with her! She's with Luke! Understand?"

"What? She never said anything!" Ryan complained looking a little sad and still rubbing his shoulder where Seth had hit him.

"Well, it's not official."

"So, if she's not really with Luke, I might still have a chance?"

"No! It may not be official, but that doesn't change anything!" Seth explained. "Luke cannot find out that you like her! Believe me it's for your best."

Ryan reluctantly agreed and they continued their way to Luke's house which they reached a couple of minutes later. Luke's mom let them in and send them up to Luke's room. Seth knocked and then opened the door.

"Hey Luke." He greeted.

"Hey Cohen. What's up? What are you doing here?"

"Not much. I just thought we could hang out, you know?"

"Sure. But is it cool if we go down to the beach?" Luke asked "I told Marissa I'd meet her there."

Seth darted a quick glance at Ryan meant as a silent warning, before agreeing with Luke.

* * *

They met up with Marissa at the beach and were soon joined by Summer and Dave who had called wanting to do something with their friends. Luke, Seth and Dave spent some time swimming and playing frisbee while Summer and Marissa were lying on their towels tanning and gossiping. Ryan sat next to them and listened. He wasn't really into sports and this way he had a chance to be close to Marissa.

Around noon all of them were feeling a little hungry and Seth and Luke offered to go and pick up some food.

They were standing in line waiting to order when Luke remembered something.

"Hey, I have't asked you yet: How did our plan work out?"

"I think we need a new one." Seth sighed.

"Why? What happened?"

"It kind of backfired. Not only are my parents more convinced to keep Ryan now than ever, but they also blame me for everything."

"How can they blame you? You didn't do anything? You were not the one who came home drunk?"

"Yes, and apparently that's the problem."

"Huh?" Luke wondered.

"I guess they're not used to me not getting drunk at a party anymore."

"Oh" was all Luke said.

"Yeah."

"So we need a new plan..." Luke trailed off thinking.

Seth nodded. "My parents will never kick him out..." He thought aloud.

"Yeah...but..." Suddenly Luke got an idea and an evil grin formed on his face and Seth's eyes lit up in anticipation. "What if they do?"

"They won't." Seth's face fall in disappointment again.

"I know, I know." Luke confirmed that he had understood Seth. "What I mean is, we don't exactly have to get your parents to throw him out. We just have to make Ryan believe that they want to do that."

"Now you lost me!"

"If he believes that your parents don't want him, maybe we can also convince him to leave on his own."

Seth considered it for a moment. "This might actually work."

"Of course it will! It's my plan!" Luke exclaimed.

"Yeah, just like the plan to get him drunk." Seth punched Luke's upper arm playfully.

"So how are we gonna do this?" Luke asked.

"Actually I think I might have an idea. You know, this morning Ryan overheard a conversation between my parents. He already thinks they want to return him to his group home."

"Okay, that's perfect. Now we just have to make sure that he runs off before your parents have the chance to really talk to him about everything."

They got their food and drinks and made their way back to their friends.

* * *

It was already after dinner when Seth and Ryan came home. Seth led the way into the kitchen with Ryan following behind. They found Kirsten sitting at the table working on some blueprints and Sandy leaning against the kitchen counter drinking coffee.

"I just wish there was more I could do." He said.

"I get that, honey, but..." She was interrupted by the boys entrance "Oh, hey guys. We were wondering when you would get home."

"Yeah, well we are now." Seth snapped, all anger from the morning resurfacing.

"Seth!" His father warned. "Sit down. We have to talk to you. Both of you."

They both sat down on the bar stools and Kirsten went over to stand next to Sandy.

"So, what do you have to say for yourselves?"

The room was filled with silence.

"I'm sorry. We...um, I..." Ryan finally started to say, but was interrupted by the phone ringing. Sandy answered it and went out on the patio for some privacy. He came back in a few minutes later.

"Okay. You wait right there. I'll come and take care of everything. It's gonna be okay." He said before hanging up. "I'm sorry, but I have to go. It's something with a client. But I'll be back in a couple of hours." He explained.

"Sandy!" Kirsten scowled.

"I'm really sorry. But I have to go."

Kirsten sighed but then nodded her head.

"This conversation is far from over, boys!" He told them before leaving. "Go to your rooms. We'll continue this tomorrow."

"Remember it's a school night, so don't stay up too late, Seth!" Kirsten reminded her son.

"And Ryan, you have to get up early tomorrow, too. I'll drive you." Sandy added.

He left through the front door and a second later they heard his car driving away. Seth and Ryan went upstairs to their rooms while Kirsten went back to work on her project at the kitchen table.

"So, I guess it's goodbye now?" Ryan asked a little unsure of how to treat Seth now.

"Yeah, I guess. Um, how do you feel about going back to Chino? I mean this morning you didn't seem too happy."

"Let's just say Chino has not exactly been friendly to me before! All these pod people!" He explained. "I hate it there!" He finally stated. "But yeah, I guess there's nothing I can do about it, huh? So have fun with your new brother."

Seth looked up at that, "New brother? What new brother?"

"Don't you think your parents will try this whole adoption thing again once I'm gone. Maybe your dad even decides to bring someone back home when he takes me to the group home tomorrow."

"Oh no!" Seth exclaimed. "There won't be a different brother."

Ryan looked at him not really understanding a word Seth was saying.

"I have a plan." Seth said pulling Ryan with him into Ryan's bedroom.

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Please REVIEW!!! It doesn't have to be long, I just want to know if there's even anybody out there reading this.


	4. The Model Home

**The Difference Between Brothers – Part 4 – The Model Home**

AN: Okay, so I put some stuff about Seth and Summer in this chapter too. I wasn't planning on at first, but it was requested and it actually works out good with what I have planned for this story now. Don't worry there's still a little more of that coming soon.

Right now I'm guessing there's one more chapter to come. And after that maybe an epilogue, depending on how I feel about writing one.

As always feedback is very much appreciated!

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"C'mon, get your stuff! You're running away!"

"I'm what now? How will that help?" Ryan asked shocked and totally unconvinced.

'My parents will see that you were just too much trouble for them and be glad that you decided to leave on your own. Nobody will come looking for you and I'm rid of you!' Seth thought, but out loud he said, "My parents will worry about you and then they'll realize what you really mean to them. They'll come looking for you and then take you back in for good."

Ryan seemed convinced now. Seth's explanation had sounded really good. He got his backpack which was still sitting on the bed where he had left it in the morning after packing.

"Okay, I'm good to go." Ryan announced. "But remember, we have to be really stealth here. We can't have your mother catching us. You think you can do that?"

Seth glared at him, "Better question is: Can you?"

"Oh, I'll be fine. I practically invented the stealth." He replied laughing a little at the memory.

_Every year the caretakers took all the kids from the group home to sumer camp for a week. Ryan usually loved camp, but there was this year when he was ten. A few weeks earlier a new kid, Damon had arrived at the group home. He was twelve, about two times Ryan's size and always angry._

_Ryan didn't even know anymore what he had done wrong, but Damon was really pissed at him and wanted to beat the crap out of him. Of course he couldn't do that at the group home. Ryan was such a homebody and always stayed close to the caretakers. At one point when Damon had seen an opportunity with no one around and started picking on him, a caretaker had come by and broken up the fight. Before being dragged away by him, Damon had promised Ryan to finish their dispute at camp where he thought Ryan couldn't hide from him._

_Ryan had tried to get out of going to camp without much success. But Damon had been wrong. It was at camp that Ryan developed his 'stealth skills'. He spent the entire week hiding from Damon, but still managed to take part in every activity. Damon tried to intercept him before meals or scheduled meetings with the group, but Ryan was always faster and already waiting for him at the table or wherever they were supposed to meet. Damon was constantly late and got in a lot of trouble with the caretakers. By the end of the week he gave up. Either because he saw that Ryan was way smarter than him and not worth the trouble, or because he had forgotten the reason why he had been going after him in the first place._

_That was also the year Ryan found out he loved sailing. They were at a small lake and Ryan went out on it with the boats they had at the camp most days. It was the best hiding place there was and he enjoyed the solitude. It was just him and Captain Oats._

Seth looked at Ryan for a second wondering what could be so funny but then he went ahead out of the room. He got more used to Ryan's crazy behavior with every day that they spend together.

The boys quietly made their way downstairs careful to avoid Kirsten. They successfully made it out of the house and Ryan was waiting at the end of the driveway for Seth to get his bike when somebody left the house next door and began walking down their driveway towards him.

"Hey!" Marissa greeted him.

"Hi." Ryan looked at her his mouth wide open.

"What are you doing out here?" She asked.

"You know, Seth had this really cool plan. I'm run..." Seth had come up to them and quickly covered Ryan's mouth with his hand to shut him up.

"We're going to run some laps. You know excercise a little. I thought it would be good for him." Seth put in.

"Uh-huh." Marissa obviously didn't believe him. "So, what's the bag for?" She asked pointing to Ryan's backpack.

"Um...sportswear. Shoes, water, that kind of stuff." Seth explained.

"You're really a horrible liar Seth, you know that?" Marissa said pointing out the obvious. "Besides, you're carrying a sleeping bag over your shoulder!"

The guys had no choice but to tell Marissa the truth. She thought it was advendurous and intriguing and immediately offered to drive them. It was only a relatively short ride to Kirsten's model home where Seth planned to hide Ryan. They talked for a while. Seth tried to get Marissa to leave, but she was rather adamant about staying because she liked hanging out with Ryan. Seth finally told them that he should go home before his parents found out he was gone and Marissa again offered to drive him. Both promised to come and visit Ryan the next day.

Marissa had been supposed to meet Luke that night, but it had taken too much time to get Ryan settled and now she still had to drive Seth home. She decided to give him a quick call and then talk to him in person the next day in school. He probably wouldn't be happy, but he had to deal with it. And he agreed, but under the condition that she came by the next night.

* * *

"Seth, wake up!" Someone was yelling at him and Seth didn't like it. He groaned and turned over in his bed trying to silence the voice, but it was no use. 

"Seth, come on, get up! Now!" The voice was very insistent and Seth finally opened his eyes a little only to see his mom only dressed in her pyjamas and a robe sitting on his bed.

"Mom? What's wrong?" He asked sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Ryan's gone!" She was clearly near panic. "Do you have any idea where he might have gone?"

"What?" Seth was still sleepy but quickly realized it was time to start acting. "What do you mean? Gone?"

"His room is empty, his bed made and all of his stuff is gone!"

What was he supposed to answer to that? While Seth thought about it he got the first good look at his mother. Her eyes were filled with tears and she looked to be about to break down and suddenly Seth felt really guilty. He had conviced Ryan to run away for his own selfish reasons and hadn't thought about how anybody else might react to his leaving. His mom was devasted and it was his fault!

"Mom? Calm down, okay?" He said putting an arm around her shoulder.

She tried to get a grip on herself, but failed miserably. She buried her head in Seth's shoulder and quietly sobbed. Seth didn't know what to do at first, but then embraced her in a tight hug and started rubbing circles on her back, just like she used to do to him when he was younger.

They had only been sitting there for a few seconds before Sandy came in. He was pretty shaken up too. But he knew he had to stay in control. He went over to his wife and took her out of Seth's arms.

"Honey, calm down, please." He said in a soothing voice.

"Sandy?" She asked through her sobs. "Did you call the police?"

"Police?" Seth asked perplexed. Why would they call the police? This was not good! It was getting really out of control.

"Yeah, I did. They said they'd come by sometime today. It's gonna be fine, honey."

"Dad, I...uhm...I..." Seth was interrupted by the door bell.

"Is that them?" Kirsten asked looking up at Sandy.

"It can't be. It's too soon." Sandy said, but he was quickly on his way to the front door closely followed by Kirsten and Seth.

"Marissa." Sandy was surprised to see the girl from next door on their doorstep.

"Hi, Mr. C., Mrs C." She greeted them in return. "Uh, is everything okay?"

The question was directed at Kirsten whose eyes were red and puffy from crying.

"I'm sorry." She excused herself and went into the living room before anyone could see the tears that were threatening to spill again. Sandy pointed after her and when Seth nodded his understanding he followed her.

"Did I...uh...interrupt something?" Marissa asked worried.

"Come on. Let's give them some privacy." Seth started walking towards the stairs.

"Okay, but I have to tell Summer first that we'll be a while. She's waiting outside in the car." Marissa said.

Seth turned around, "Summer's here?"

"Yeah, she's coming to school with us. Why? Is that not okay?"

"No. No, that's fine. I'll just get changed real quick and then we can go." He told her before disappearing upstairs.

Marissa went to the car to tell Summer that they had to wait for Seth.

"He better hurry up!" Summer said annoyed.

Marissa rolled her eyes. "I'm gonna wait for him over there." She said and pointed to the front door.

When Seth came downstairs again, Kirsten was still upset but had calmed down significantly. Sandy came to talk to him.

"You leaving for school?" He asked.

Seth nodded.

"Good. I'll stay home from work today to take care of your mom. Call us if you need anything."

"Sure. Uhm...if you hear anything about Ryan...call me?"

"Of course." Sandy nodded.

Marissa who stood at the door heard everything and was a little confused by the exchange. She said goodbye to the adult Cohens and left with Seth.

"What was up with your mom?" Marissa asked Seth when they were on the road. Summer was trying to fix her make up and ignored them.

"It's because Ryan left." He explained.

"Oh my God. She was so upset."

"Yeah. I actually feel kinda bad."

"Why did Ryan leave anyway?" Marissa asked. She had never bothered to ask the night before, but was starting to wonder now.

"Um, it's...well he overheard my parents talking yesterday..."

"Wait! Ryan left?" Summer suddenly interrupted them. She had only just understood what they were talking about. Both Marissa and Seth shot her weird looks, but didn't comment.

"Yeah, anyway, my parents were talking about taking him back to the group home. And he really didn't want to go, so he... you know?" Seth said trying to explain without Summer finding out too much. Marissa nodded. The rest of the ride to school was spent in silence except for Summer's protests and demands to know what was going on.

* * *

After school Marissa and Seth met up in the parking lot. 

"You ready to visit Ryan?" Marissa asked.

"Sure." Seth replied unenthusiastically.

"Coop, wait up!" Summer yelled while running over to them from the other side of the parking lot. "I need a ride."

"I thought you were getting a ride home with Dave?" Marissa asked skeptically.

"Oh, but he already left." Summer's tone was innocent, but Marissa didn't believe her friend, not even for one second. They had been best friends for years and she could always tell when Summer was up to something.

"You told him to leave without you, didn't you?" She accused Summer, their eyes locked and both understood the other without using words.

"So what if I did?" She retorted defiantly and got into the car on the passenger side. Marissa stared at her waiting to see what Summer would do next. But Summer just sat in the car and waited for the other two.

"O-kay. Don't mess with Summer Roberts!" Marissa told Seth in a hushed voice when passing him on her way to the driver's side. He gave her a small smile and then got into the car too.

Marissa already had her supplies in the trunk of her car whereas Seth hadn't been able to sneak anything out of the house in the morning for obvious reasons. Not that he had actually planned on helping Ryan. He just wanted to get rid of the guy, but that seemed to be getting harder and harder to do. Especially with Marissa there who thought he was helping Ryan. And now there was Summer too.

They grabbed some fast food on their way to the model home to have a late lunch/early dinner with Ryan.

After eating they continued to explore the house and the surroundings which they hadn't been able to do in the dark the night before. Marissa and Ryan were in the house looking for a room where he could set up the tent Marissa had brought for him.

"So, how do you like it here?" Marissa asked.

"I think it's awesome! I can consider myself really lucky, that I got a brother like Seth. Not every kid finds someone who is as helpful as Seth. I mean without him, I don't know where I would be right now, probably back in Chino."

Marissa nodded. "Yeah, Seth told me about that."

They worked in silence on the tent for a while. But then decided to drop the serious and depressing conversations and have some fun, be kids for an afternoon. And they did. They teased and chased each other around the house and were laughing a lot.

* * *

At the same time Seth and Summer were walking around outside talking. 

"I heard you broke up with Ashley last week." Summer started. Ashley was one of her friends and she had been interested in the reasons of the breakup since news had spread around school the week before. "Do you mind me asking why?"

"Uhm...it's just...it didn't really work out with us." He tried to hide the real reason, but being the bad liar that he was Summer picked up on the lie.

"Oh my God! You cheated on her?!" She squealed and slapped his arm.

"Ow! No, I didn't!" He defended himself. She eyed him suspicously.

"But...?"

"But...there is somebody else I like, okay? Now happy?" He shot back.

"No! Who is it?"

"I'm not gonna tell you!" He answered and took a step back to avoid another blow.

Summer obviously didn't like the answer 'no' and pestered him for more information, but he stayed steadfast.

"Does she go to our school? In our grade?" She paused after every question waiting in vain for an answer for a second before she asked the next question. "It's not Holly, is it? Michelle? Lauren? Ruthie?..."

Summer continued to name every girl at school, but Seth didn't answer. Then she moved on to girls at Newport Union or Pacific that she knew. In the end she had pretty much listed every girl in their age group living in Newport Beach, except the one Seth was thinking about. He still refused to tell her by the time it got dark out and no hitting, begging or cajoling changed his mind.

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TBC


	5. The Brother

**The Difference Between Brothers – Part 5 – The Brother**

AN: So, this is the last part for now. It still leaves some things out in the open for which I might write an epilogue, but I'm still not sure.

Please REVIEW!!!

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Although it was getting late nobody wanted to leave just yet until Marissa's cell phone rang.

"Hey babe." It was Luke. "Where are you? You were supposed to have dinner at my house tonight."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Luke. I completely forget. I'm on my way, now." She apologized and ended the call.

"I have to go." She told the guys. "Summer, want me to drop you off at your house. It's on the way to Luke's."

Summer agreed and the girls drove off. Ryan looked really sad as he watch the car disappear around a corner. Unfortunatly for Ryan Seth had noticed his looks and punched him on the shoulder. "Stop doing that!" He demanded.

"How? It's not that easy."

Seth glared at him.

"I should get home, too." Seth said, then he remembered. "Since Marissa left I don't have a ride anymore. This is just great!"

"You could always take my skateboard." Ryan offered.

"Yeah. And show up with it at home. Do you know what my parents would do? They already called the cops!"

"What?" Ryan yelped.

'Oh, shit.' Seth thought. He had said too much.

"Are they really that mad? That they'd call the cops on me?" Ryan asked incredulous.

Seth shrugged. This was getting extremely complicated. Keeping up with all the different lies. 'Better get out here fast.'

"I should really be off. It's a long walk home."

"Um, yeah. So, what about breakfast tomorrow morning?" Ryan asked. "The diner maybe?"

"Sure." Seth agreed halfheartedly.

"Great. Meet me at the pier at...let's say, 7?" Ryan asked.

Seth nodded before saying goodbye.

* * *

Marissa and Summer rode in silence for a while. Both were thinking about the events of that afternoon. Marissa about her conversation with Ryan and Summer was still trying to figure out who Seth could have a crush on. 

"I know you wanted to come today because you hate to feel left out." Marissa finally broke the silence. "Was this what you expected?"

"Actually, it was better. How did you get involved in this in the first place anyway?"

Marissa explained the events of the last night to Summer who didn't interrupt her friend, just nodded sometimes to show she was listening intenly. When Marissa finished they were both silent for a minute.

"Oh there's something I have to tell you!" Summer suddenly said loudly. "You know how Seth broke up with Ashley last week?" Marissa nodded. "And since then I've been wondering why. So I asked him. Turns out he likes somebody else."

Marissa shot Summer a quick glance before she continued to concentrate on the road.

'So Sum finally figured it out.' She thought. Since she had started hanging out with Luke quite often she had also gotten to know Seth better and had noticed how he looked at Summer lately. Now she expected that Summer had too, so she was surprised by her best friend's next comment.

"But the crazy thing is: he won't tell me who it is! Can you believe that?!" Summer asked.

"Yeah. No. Crazy." Marissa said confused.

"Okay, spit it out!" Summer demanded knowing full well that Marissa was hiding something.

"What? What do you mean? I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You know who Cohen likes, don't you? Come on, tell me!"

Marissa locked eyes with Summer for a second before she told her, "Sum, it's you! He likes you!"

"What? Eww...I mean... how?...Why?"

"Haven't you noticed how he looks at you? It's quite obvious that he's totally into you! What's the problem? He's a nice guy. Most of the time." Marissa said before the remembered a small detail. "But there's Dave, right?"

"Well, Dave's not so much the problem. It's..." Summer trailed off thinking.

"Wait. You like Seth? And you would dump Dave to be with Seth?"

"Yes, I like Seth, but I don't know about being with him." Summer tried to explain. "You know how Seth is. His reputation. He's never been with a girl for more that two weeks. I don't want to end up like his ex-girlfriends. He dumps them and then finds a new one a week later."

"Yeah. I guess that's understandable." Marissa agreed. "But maybe the only reason why he dumped all those girls is because they weren't you? Why don't you talk to him. Find out if he really likes you."

"You think he really likes me?" Summer asked unsure. Marissa nodded.

The rest of the way was spend in comfortable silence. Summer needed to think about everything and Marissa gave her friend all the time she wanted. Marissa dropped Summer off at her house and then continued to Luke's.

* * *

Marissa arrived at Luke's house and was greeted by his parents. After she had apologized to them for blowing off dinner she went upstairs to his room to find him. 

"Hey babe. I thought you wanted to be here an hour ago?" Luke asked greeting her with a peck on the cheek.

"Yeah, I did want to come earlier, but things came up."

"Oh, what kind of things?" Marissa thought she heard a slight hint of jealousy in Luke's voice.

"Nothing important. I just had to help Seth with something with his brother."

Luke laughed. "Yeah?"

"What's so funny?" Marissa was confused. She didn't understand what Luke was saying.

"Did he get rid of him?" Luke asked still laughing.

"What are you talking about?" Marissa felt like whe was missing the point of something completely.

"Haven't you notice?" Luke asked. "That kid is a total nuisance!"

"Luke!" Marissa admonished. "He's a nice guy. A little geeky perhaps, but that's it."

"He's so stupid! He actually thinks we're friends with him, that Cohen is his 'brother'. Truth is the only reason why we're being nice to him is because he knows us and could tell on us if we hurt him."

"Why are you being like this? You don't even know him?" Marissa exclaimed.

"Cohen told me about him and I can totally understand him! I mean I certainly never asked for younger twin brothers! If I could get rif of them I would, in a heartbeat, but they're family and I can't. Ryan's not!" Luke tried to get Marissa to understand. "You've got a little sister too. And you always tell me how annoying she is. You'd do the same thing!"

"No, I wouldn't! Kaitlin may be annoying, but I love her!" Marissa objected loudly.

"Because she's your sister! Not some stranger your parents took in and dumped on you!"

"Ryan's not 'some stranger'! Maybe you haven't noticed, but Ryan belongs with the Cohens!" She was yelling by now. "I don't care what you and Seth thought of to get him to run away. I don't even want to know what your plan is, as long as it ends with Ryan staying with the Cohens! Permanently!"

She turned on her heel and headed for the front door. Luke ran after her.

"C'mon, Riss, you can't be serious!"

"Deadly!" With that she slammed the door shut right in Luke's face.

* * *

"Hey Seth." Sandy greeted his son when he came home later that night. 

"Hi dad." Seth said without much enthusiasm. He just wanted to get a drink from the kitchen and then disappear into his room. But apparently Sandy had other plans for them and followed Seth to the kitchen.

"You're home late." Sandy stated. Seth just shot him a quick 'since-when-do-you-care-about-that-kinda-stuff-look before continuing his search for something to drink. "Where were you?"

"Out with some friends." Seth said and finally settled on a can of Sprite.

"With who?"

Sandy received another glance and then an answer, "Summer and Marissa."

"Ah, was Luke there too? Or was it just the three of you?"

"No, Luke wasn't there." Seth settled for the short answer ignoring the second question. It wasn't a lie. Just not the whole truth either.

What's up with the twenty questions anyway? Seth began to woder. Maybe Sandy knew something about Ryan. But that couldn't be possible, could it? He quickly decided to distract his dad from any topic that could possibly be related to Ryan.

"Where's mom?" Was the first question to come to his mind. It seemed innocent enough.

"Upstairs sleeping." Sandy explained. "She was exhausted. She's really worried about Ryan. I am too. We have no idea where he is."

"Yeah, of course. Ryan." Seth muttered.

Not even now that he was gone could his parents stop obsessing about the guy. Who had the retarded idea to take in that kid in the first place anyway? So far he had brought nothing but trouble.

"Is everything okay, Seth?" Sandy asked picking up on the change of Seth's mood at the mention of Ryan's name. "Is there anything you want to tell me?"

"Oh, uh...no. It's fine. I've just been under a lot of stress lately." He started rambling. "You know, with school, it's the end of the year and I had finals and than there was that thing with Ashley last week. That alone was a lot I had to handle at once. And then suddenly you decide to take in Ryan and you expect me to help him get settled, but he's like totally different than me and I..."

"You know, son, right now with your rambling you're sounding a lot like Ryan." Sandy said chuckling as he cut Seth off, oblivious to the fact that he had hit a nerve with that comment.

"NO!" Seth yelled at his father, his face now contorted with anger. "NO, I AM NOT! I am nothing like the guy, understand? We have less than nothing in common! And if you had ever actually asked me about how I felt about him moving in here you would know that too!"

He stormed off towards his room leaving a bewildered Sandy standing speechless in the kitchen.

Seth flopped down on the bed in his room and looked up at the ceiling. What his dad had said was so totally wrong, why couldn't he see that? He was nothing like Ryan! He had been able to ramble even before Ryan showed up. He didn't do it often and not with people he felt uncomfortable around, but his parents had surely heard it from him before. He wasn't like Ryan and if it was up to him he never would be!

Why was he even still thinking about the guy. They were not brothers! They weren't even friends! According to Seth. So why should he do what Ryan wanted from him. He had reached his goal: Ryan was gone and he was an only child again. There was no reason to think about Ryan ever again. And certainly no reason to meet with him for breakfast the next day, Seth decided.

* * *

The next morning Seth was in the kitchen eating breakfast when the doorbell rang. Rosa opened and led Luke to the kitchen a moment later. 

"Hey. Where's that Chino kid?" Luke asked.

"Probably at the pier. He wanted to meet me there for breakfast this morning. Why?"

"Oh, nothing. Just wanna beat the shit out of him for hooking up with Marissa."

"What?" Seth almost chocked on his cereal.

"Yeah. I wanted to talk to Chip last night about...well, problems with Marissa. Turns out he saw Chino and Marissa together. Apparently he came onto her at Holly's party Saturday. So I'm just on my way to kick his ass."

Luke turned and left a confused Seth in the kitchen alone. Coming back in a second later he asked, "By the way, what are you doing there?"

"What?"

"You're eating dry cereal out of the box."

Seth jumped off the bar stool, and dropped the box of cereal on the counter immediatly as if it was something creepy that he wanted to be as far away from as possible. He looked at the box disgusted. When had that happened? When had he become like Ryan? Last night he could have sworn that he was nothing like him, but now?

Suddenly he knew what he had to do. He ran outside just as Luke's truck was pulling out of the driveway. He looked around. Both cars where gone. Sandy and Kirsten were both at work. And there was only his bike lying on the grass. There was no way he could get to the pier before Luke did, but he had to at least try.

It came to no surprise that Luke reached the pier before Seth and quickly located Ryan who was standing in front of the diner looking over the ocean. He went over to him and slugged him straight in the face without any warning. Ryan tumbled to the ground completely taken aback.

"Luke? What's wrong?" He asked looking up at Luke, a mix of fear and astonishment on his face.

Luke grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet, yelling, "You and Marissa! That's what's wrong!"

He cocked his arm back and got ready to strike again, but he didn't get that far.

"Hey!" Seth yelled jumping off his bike and running over to Ryan and Luke. He freed Ryan's arm out of Luke's grip and then pushed Luke back, at the same time making sure Ryan stayed behind him for protection.

"Whoa Cohen. What's wrong?" Luke asked incredulous.

"Leave him alone, Luke!" Seth said.

"What? Are you crazy? Just a couple of days ago you asked me for help to get rid of him!"

Ryan looked up at Seth. "You...you wanted to get rid of me?" Ryan asked, the hurt evident in his voice and took a step away from Seth. Seth looked down studying the floor and avoided Ryan's eyes. "You never wanted a brother, did you?"

"Ryan, I...I didn't mean..."

"You didn't mean what? For me to find out? Was it that that you didn't want? You just wanted me gone, huh?"

"Ryan, calm down, please." Seth tried to explain. "It's true I didn't want you as a brother at first, but...but I realized a couple of things this morning."

Ryan looked at him clearly not trusting him. They locked eyes for a while but then Ryan lowered his head, pushed past Seth and headed for the diner.

"Please Ryan..." Seth was practically begging. He wanted to get him to agree to going home. But with everything he had done to him who could blame Ryan for walking away.

Ryan turned around again for a moment. "Just leave me alone!"

Seth nodded slowly and looked to the ground knowing from the dissappointment he had heard in Ryan's tone that he had just lost Ryan. He had to tell his parents about this mess and they would probably be less than happy with him. He went over to the end of the pier and looked over the ocean so he never noticed Luke sneaking up on Ryan and shoving him hard to the ground.

Ryan let out a scream of surprise from being attacked from behind and tried to slow his fall with his hands. Seth had heard him and swiveled around seeing how Luke hovered over Ryan. He quickly moved over to them, grabbed Luke's shoulder to turn him around and hit him square in the face.

"Leave him alone!" Seth threathened again.

"Why? The little shit deserves it. For hooking up with my girlfriend!"

"First of all Marissa is not your girlfriend! Have you ever considered that the feelings between them might be mutual? And how do you think she's gonna feel about you when she finds out you beat up one of her best friends?" Seth said firmly. "Second of all 'the little shit' is my brother! If you ever touch him again, you'll be sorry!" He threatened raising his fist.

"Oh, fuck you." Luke mumbled under his breath. He had seen what Seth could do to guys he got into fights with and also knew from recent experience, not to mess with him when he was this irritated, so he decided it was best to leave. Seth turned around to Ryan who was looking at him incredulous not quite sure if had heard correctly when Seth called him his brother.

"What?" Seth wanted to know being annoyed with Ryan staring at him.

"Nothing." Ryan answered. "Just...that was really cool... I didn't believe what Luke said for one second. I always knew you liked me." Off of Seth's look he added, "a little. Because under that tough shell of yours is a soft heard."

"Oh yeah? But even if that was true, you won't tell anyone, because brother or not, i can still kick your ass!" Seth threatened smiling. "Now, come on, let's go home."

THE END (for now)

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A huge 'Thank you' to all for reading this and especially to those who reviewed (or will review ;-) )!!!


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